Cute butt jeans

I'll admit it: I'm a sucker for cute jeans. Especially the cute, trendy ones, that cost way more than they're worth. But, I'm also frugal (read: cheap), thus I refuse to pay full price. In fact, its rare that I'll actually pay more than $40 for a pair of jeans. I'm pretty good at scoring a bargain. In fact, I recently found a pair of $240 Diesel jeans for only $35. That was a total score.

But, I've recently lost 12 pounds. And to celebrate, I've really been wanting some button pocket jeans. Unfortunately, the bargain hunt has been fruitless. Then, the other day, while browsing the sale items on Buckle.com, I came across the perfect jeans. They were on sale - $85 marked down from $120. Before I could even stop myself, I pulled out the debit card and they were mine.

They came just a few days later. And they are cute:

Really cute.

They look great on too (I tried to figure out how to take a picture of my own derriere, to no avail. You'll have to use your imagination) I love those stinkin' jeans - most especially because they're a size smaller than the last I bought. Score!!

Of course, hubby wasn't thrilled with my purchase. But, dang it, I make good money, and if I want to indulge in something occasionally that makes me feel good about myself, than I should be able to. Right?

One problem though: those cute buttons have an evil side.

They rip my car seat. Notice too that it has been ripped on 3 separate occasions.

4 months in a nutshell

Here's some of what we've been doing for the past 4 months:



We took a vacation to Jackson, Wyoming - riding the alpine slides.
and visiting Grand Teton National Park.
G caught her first fish.
The girls were in their first gymnastics recital.
They loved it.
G started school.
She also played soccer.
Bryn got a haircut.
Our yard produced lots of fresh food - especially Roma tomatoes. We made homemade salsa and
We took some family pictures.
We met a witch
Gracelin's art was chosen to be hung in the new Primary Children's Medical Center.
We picked pumpkins.
I got my hair cut - here's the before
And 12 inches later . . .

Remember me?

I'm a big fat slacker.

I haven't blogged since July - FOUR months. Its not necessarily because of slacking though - my life has been CRAZY (to say the least), and something had to go. And I also used to be able to post at work, and I can't anymore. So that significantly has reduced my blogging time - for both posting and keeping up with my friends.

I am on Facebook though, so if you want to be my friend there, let me know.

I am going to do better too about keeping the blog updated.

July 4th - only 10 days late

I had good intentions of taking my camera with us for our July 4th activities: parade, waterpark, bbq, and fireworks. It was a busy day. And all I have to show for it (photographically speaking) are a few pics of the girls in the morning before we left:

I know I haven't been around much. My blogging has kind of ebbed and flowed - I suppose I'm ebbing right now. I have had a lot of things going on - most of them not so good. I think that has maybe dampened my desire to blog. I've been finding a lot of peace and stress reduction in my garden. And its blooming nicely right now.

Lots of lilies and daylilies:


The orange ones are my favorite. They're so striking.
I actually don't remember planing this color, but I've got lots so smaller plants with this flower. Could it be a cross pollination?
Sunny daisies thrive in my yard.

I even have 3 hydrangeas thriving in a shady spot.
Delphinium are among my favorites. With monarda and weigela in the back - I think they're stunning.
Hopefully I'll be back to regular blogging shortly.

Good riddence June!

The entire month of June has pretty much sucked. I'm tempted to say that the entire month has been overall shitty, but this is a family blog. (wait . . . ) To say that I'm excited to change the calendar to July tomorrow would be an understatement. I cannot wait. (even if I do hate the hot weather)

Today was another bad day. As I was driving home, I couldn't help but to wallow in my self-pity. I won't bore anyone with details, but one thing after another just rained down on me from crap heaven. I even got called pregnant today by some jerk in the office (of course I'm not, and I made sure he knew that I'm not). As I was recalling the events of the day, and generally feeling sorry for myself, the DJ on the radio announced a contest. He was giving away a gift certificate to the 13th caller.

Normally I don't ever call into radio stations, but today I gave it a shot. I needed something good to happen. So, I dialed the number. It was busy.

I dialed again. Same result.

I tried one more time. It rang!!

"They must have already given the prize away," I thought to myself.

But then, amazingly, the DJ answered the phone.

"You're caller 12! Better luck next time!" he shouted at me in his cheesy, DJ voice.

AH. I was so close, but still so far away. Maybe I'll try to win another one in July.

Why we don't give Brynlee sugar before bed

Please ignore my messy house:

Am I the only one?

Am I just being over protective, or does this scare the crap out of anyone else?

White trash weekend

Lest anyone be offended, let me first clarify that I am placing the "WT" moniker upon myself. And it does fit - let me tell you how well:


Last Saturday night, as a family we went to the Bluffdale Town Days demolition derby. Now, if you've never been to a demolition derby, you really should go. Where else can you eat all the deep fried junk food that you can fit in your beer belly, all while watching cars from the 1970s and 80s crash into each other. It really is entertainment that cannot be beat.

Can't you tell by the look of pure joy on our faces?Ok, here's a more joyous face:
We actually had lots of fun. The girls would pick their favorite car, and then cheer for it throughout the entire heat. The best heat, was the final, when there were two #6 cars. The girls even had the kids around us chanting "Num-ber SIX! Num-ber SIX!" And wouldn't you know it? First and second place went to both #6 cars. Amazing.

After the heats, the cars that couldn't drive on their own (most of them) would be hauled out by tow trucks. This is my favorite: the short bus. How fitting.
One of the best crashes of the night. This car actually drove up on the jersey barrier, and cracked the poor thing up.
This was the best crash of the night. The poor green car rolled on its side, and I think it actually came back in a later heat.

Actually.
What up B?

(can you see the smeared deep-fried Kit-Kat on her face? and are you now asking yourself what in the *&^$ is a deep-fried Kit-Kat? Don't knock it till you try it)

Is my calendar on the wrong month?

I'm pretty sure its June 10. At least that is what the calendar said today. But pretty much only the calendar knows that is what today is. Mother Nature must have missed the memo.

Driving home from work today, the car told me outside temperature was only 56 degrees (yes, Fahrenheit). And when I got home, I saw this:
and this:
and this:
Piles of snow?

Actually, no. Piles of HAIL! A good 2 hours after the storm had passed. Believe it or not, we are luckier than the neighborhood just west of us, where several homes flooded. The worst damage we had, were my poor baby delphinium that had just sprouted from seed. I'm afraid they didn't make it. Nor did my peonies. Good thing I have this to remind me of how beautiful they were:

The perfect pancake

I am a lover of pancakes. One may even call me a pancake connoisseur. My love began with my grandpa. He and my grandma used to own a bed and breakfast - a beautiful Victorian mansion on a Civil War battlefield. It was a wonderful place to visit as a child. I have such fond memories of spending time there, but my favorite memory is of my grandfather's breakfasts. He would always have the best bacon and lots of fresh fruit - and if I got lucky, he'd make his famous blueberry pancakes.

I think I've spent a lifetime (or at least 30-some years of one) trying to perfect my pancake recipe. I know I'll never make one quite like his, but I think I've got my own version down pretty well. It takes just the right combination of buttermilk mixture added to buckwheat. Then, I put lots of butter down in the pan before I add the batter (no one said these were low fat). And it has to have fat blueberries (I've had the best luck with frozen berries actually).

Oh, and my pancakes (unlike grandpa's, as he was always cooking for a crowd) has to be the size of a pan:
With lots of fresh berries on top:
Add some whipped cream:
Delicious!
So, who's coming for breakfast?

My peonies

Last fall, I was browsing the clearance nursery stock. I came across a sickly, half dead peony plant for only $1. Not one to pass up a bargain, I purchased it. I'll be honest - I wasn't expecting much. But, I figured that I could gamble a dollar. I knew just where I was going to plant it - in the vacant spot adjacent to my garage. I brought it home, and immediately got to planting.

This spring, I was overjoyed to see the succulent sprouts emerging. I checked it every day, just waiting for buds to appear. One day after work, I noticed four small buds that had emerged. A few days later, there were ants crawling all over the buds - the tell-tale sign that the blossoms will open any day.

Today after work, I was finally rewarded: 2 gorgeous blossoms bigger than my hand, so heavy that the stalks bent over. And I could smell them half-way across my yard.

I just have one problem: how exactly do you pronounce peony? Is it pea-oh-knee or pee-a-nee?

Family ties

Last weekend, some of my extended family visited from Maryland, Michigan, Colorado and Arizona - a mini-family reunion. We gathered because it would have been my grandfather's birthday - our first without him. And since it was so close to memorial day, it only made sense. It has always been important to me that my kids know their extended family, but its isn't so simple when most of them live far away. So, I made sure they had the opportunity to spend some time with them.
I'm sad this picture didn't turn out better - its Bryn with my grandma (her great grandma). My grandma is an amazing person, and for an 85-year-old is vibrant and active. She's also small - I think they said she barely weighs 80 pounds.
This is my uncle (dad's brother) who is going to be a grandpa himself any day now. He loved the little kids so much - and you can tell how much they loved him too. Bryn actually kept calling him Grandpa (he does look so much like my dad - they could almost be twins, so I can understand how she'd be confused).
And here's G with my Grandma. I just wish the pictures were better - for some reason, pictures I take in my mom's house never turn out very well.
Me and Ben. I should have taken off my glasses - its rare to actually get a picture together with my husband.
This is Bryn with my cousin (he's only 11, but yes, he's my cousin). He was the designated piggy-back-giver. The girls loved him too - especially Bryn. Actually, Bryn loves everyone.